Racism and Xenophobia

Window on America Center

Kirovohrad Oblast Research Library Named After

Chizhevsky

Karin N. Jones

Community Development Volunteer, Peace Corps Ukraine

What is Race?

• A classification system of human beings on the basis of culturally-defined but

biologically-transmitted group characteristics.

• These characteristics are usually connected to visible attributes (skin color,

physical characteristics, etc.).

What is Racism?

• A set of beliefs and social practices based upon

and ideology that an racial or ethnic group is

superior to another and in which people are

treated differently.

• The belief that a particular race is superior or

inferior to another, that a person‟s social and

moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn

biological characteristics.

• Three major components:

− It is negative in nature.

− It is based on faulty data.

− It is based on an inflexible generalization that all

members of a group possess the same traits.

Racism is based on

• Race

• National Origin

• Ethnicity

• Color

What Causes Racism?

• Belief in superiority of one‟s group.

• Belief in inferiority of others.

• Power to impose standards.

• Manifestations in institutions in our society.

• Fear.

• Ignorance.

Racism is learned • As a child grows up, he or she learns to distinguish

among people different backgrounds.

− The child will begin to associate positive, negative, or

neutral characteristics with each race depending on

how he is raised. Parental influence is huge.

• Peer group pressure is another factor.

− We all want to fit in. We all want to be part of a

group.

− If the group we hang with has racists in it, we are

likely to adopt, or pretend to adopt, their prejudices.

• Individual bad experiences.

− If a person is beaten up by someone of another race,

people who tend towards racism will blame race for

the violence of the attacker.

Forms of Racism Genocide

A systematic policy to exterminate a particular category of persons, because of their race, religion, ethnicity or

some other characteristic.

Slavery

A system of social relations in which one person is the private property of another and can be bought and sold

on a market.

Second-Class Citizenship

A system of giving different categories of people different citizenship rights on the basis of some attribute.

Forms of Racism Semi-Free Labor

A system for including non-citizens in a labor market without giving them the rights and protections of

citizenship.

Discrimination

A form of racism in which persons are accorded full citizenship rights, but in various ways they face systematic

private discrimination in various contexts.

Classifications of Racism • Historical Racism

− Based on lineage and common decent.

− Identifies a population with a common origin in history, but

not a population with a uniform biological character.

− Typically is expressed through national symbols such as the

Aryan Cross or Swastika.

− Historical racism creates a notion that a particular nation is

superior to others.

• Scientific Racism

− Believes that all human beings can be characterized by race

with certain physical traits.

− Brain size, sloping foreheads, muscle density, or facial

structure falsely create a hierarchy of races.

− States that biology determines intelligence and that some

races need to civilize others.

Classifications of Racism • Institutional Racism

− Activities which intend to protect the advantages of a

dominant group and maintain or widen an unequal

position of a subordinate group.

− Creates structures in society that systematically

discriminate against particular groups or religions.

• New Racism

− A form of racism that hides racist sub-text in culture.

− Creates new expressions, such as immigrants, cultural

values, and integration to mask racist sentiments.

Racism is often invisible to the majority

• They suffer less from it.

• They don‟t attribute their misfortune to race.

• They don‟t always see the suffering that people of color endure.

Xenophobia

• Xenophobia is an intense dislike and/or fear of people from

other country, race, ethnicity and religion.

− It is defined as “a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of

strangers, foreigners, or of people significantly different from

oneself”.

• Elements

− A population group present within a society that is not

considered part of that society due to their different

background, or

− The objects of the phobia are cultural elements which are

considered alien.

Examples of Racism and Xenophobia in the world

• Australia

− Practiced apartheid, indigenous Aboriginal people have lost almost all

their land and suffered many prejudices.

− The Stolen Generation – the institutionalized attempt to prevent

Aboriginal children (and thus future generations) from being socialized

into Aboriginal culture.

• Greece

− Recent racism against ethnic minorities. Anti-immigrant sentiment,

especially against ethnic Albanians, who form the largest minority.

• India

− Long-time discrimination against what is considered the lowest class in

Hinduism, the Dalits, or untouchables, as well as sectarian and religious

violence.

− Caste system has been outlawed but the social barriers it creates are still

prevalent in rural areas, where most Indians live.

Examples of Racism and Xenophobia in the world

• Germany/Eastern Europe – The Holocaust

− Approximately 6 million European Jews were mass

murdered in concentration camps, starved, and

subjected to forced labor during World War II.

• United States and Canada

− Japanese Internship during World War II.

− People of Japanese descent were forced out of their

homes to a government-declared „safe zone‟ where they

were deprived of even basic human amenities and lost

their civil liberties.

− After the war was over, those who chose to move back

to their original states found that they had to rebuild

their lives because they had lost all of their land and

possessions.

Examples of Racism and Xenophobia in the world

• South Africa

− Apartheid began during times of colonialism, when

the small percentage of whites dominated the region.

− Blacks were denied citizenship, access to quality

healthcare, public services, education and all amenities

which had long been declared as basic human rights.

• Rwanda

− Over 800,000 people killed during a span of 100 days.

− The genocide was deemed a method of „ethnic

cleansing‟. Numerous Tutsi women were raped in full

public view and the media has been accused of

propagating anti-Tutsi sentiment during the period,.

Consequences of Racism and Xenophobia

• Threat to peace and human development.

• Disempower people by devaluing their identity.

• Destroy community cohesion and create division in society.

It begins with you

• Racism and Xenophobia will continue unless people learn about and speak

out against them.

• Appreciate people‟s diversity and differences – it makes the world a much

more interesting place.

• View individuals as individuals, and not as representative of a group.

• Thank you for reading this study on Racism and

Xenophobia!